For the Peace
by hippiechick2112
Summary: Death saw that Sam Pak always held onto peace as his anchor. It was very hard. Sam knew that life was fleeting and full of grief and that he had to content with those hardships before his own life ended. Story twenty-five in the series "After My War".


**For the Peace**

 **Note and Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine. Never will and never will be. But this story is! Enjoy!**

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Sometimes, I have to also think those in Korea too. One person in particular comes to mind. But as I ponder his life, I do have to think that perhaps he was always prepared to surrender. It was not usually his way, but the game of life was always too hard to play for him.

Sam Pak endured the most tremendous changes in his country and sought to find it in himself to keep the peace in his heart. By the time the Korean War had begun, he was nearly fifty years old. In that half century he was alive, he had seen his country – once a proud empire – taken over by Japan and assimilated to their ways. He was surprised that Korea was finally freed from Japan. However, he was devastated when Korea was split into two countries with different types of government.

By then, Sam was married and had five surviving adult children and was a well-known doctor. He was not prepared for his family being separated. Being south of what was considered the border, Sam had to choose quickly which one he wanted to be on.

He did not like any government whatsoever. So, he chose to remain south. Even if it meant corruption, Sam was willing to resolve his side with peace. And that was what he always held onto. Even if it meant fighting people just like him, the conclusion will mean peace. His greatest hope was unification, but it was a dream far, far away.

It ended quickly when war drew north to the south. Sam sent his family to Pusan and waited with the army until he had to retreat. By the time he arrived in Pusan, he found out that his wife was dead and two of his children were missing. The survivors all told tales of the enemy – their relentless anger and pride and the mechanical way they worked. The North Koreans had hacked their way through blood, bone and body to get this far south.

But Sam could not let grief hold him down. As a doctor, he still had a job to do. Reaching far into his work, he forgot all that he lost. He focused on peace. He did not know when he was going. Life was so fleeting and war took everybody, no matter the age, gender and society. But at the end of the day, he had release all of his pain and allow himself that peace.

That carried him back north too. Once the Republic of Korea became more organized, he was assigned a unit and was soon visiting other UN bases. Sam lost track of how many he had to help (Gods knew how much he needed theirs at times too), but his favorite was the 4077th. Sam had heard about Henry Blake through a few channels and decided to see for himself why the survival rate of the unit was so high.

He was in for a few surprises. While Sam found that it was insanity that made the unit so sane, he also found more than partners in the medical field. He had friends. Poker games in the Swamp and settling disputes with the locals was usually how he spent his time there. I mean, there was also drinking and some whoring. Sam did not mind. He did not need to remember his anguish.

It didn't mean that he lost track of peace either. Sam still found a quiet spot at the end of his night and released all of his frustrations before starting a new day. Even at the 4077th, he was close to the Front Lines. There were ways for a sniper to find a blind spot or for a bomb to drop at the most inconvenient time. Sam had to remain at peace with it. It wasn't just with the circumstances of his past, but with the present and future. His country was not going to heal its wounds so easily. Japan had made sure of that.

Peace brought Sam almost to the end of the war. It was a tough match and he thought that he won it. However, in the early summer of 1953, both sides vied for power. They wanted land and blood before the armistice. Sam knew that his desires were not coming true. He had to be content with a divided Korea and that he was stuck south of the border. While information about his family was not forthcoming, he knew that there will be enough time in the end to find everybody and begin anew.

He worked nonstop at the hospitals. Patients came and went and he had to care for friend and foe alike. Sam was participating in an hours-long OR session when his next patient came to the table. What the orderlies did not know was that this North Korean was Sam's cousin…and he held a knife for the one he called a traitor. When Sam's back was turned, the blade flashed faster than anybody could move. It plunged right into his back and straight through his heart.

I am Death though…and there is always a way to me. Sam Pak did not have a life after the war. But he knew that his death was inevitable. He sought to keep peace within himself. That way, when he found his way home, he would have shown me that there was no resentment and bitterness in his heart. And perhaps that was best – for him to have found peace in one life and not the other.


End file.
